Amid Elon Musk’s various claims about free speech and allowing more types of content to remain on Twitter, one element that has always struck analysts is his singular focus on the US, and the impact that Twitter, and any changes to its policies, will have on US politics. What’s more, Twitter’s US user base only makes up about 30% of its total user base, with the app also holding significant influence in other regions.
Got it, Gov!
Based on a chart from Statista, while US users do make up the largest single region for Twitter users, overall, it has far more active users in other nations. That means that any policy decision not only impacts the US but also every other region. Already, we’re seeing how these updates can cause harm, in potentially major ways.
For example, in Sudan, Twitter’s team recently approved a Twitter Blue checkmark for a profile that claimed to represent Sudanese support forces but was actually a fake account. Said profile then Tweeted that a key Sudanese military leader had been KIA, amid ongoing tensions in the region. Twitter has since removed this misleading profile, but it’s an example of how Musk’s changes will have effects in other regions too, many of which aren’t on the same level of digital literacy. Twitter has also scaled back its local presence in many nations, making the verification of key details and people more challenging.
This has long been a challenge for social platforms more broadly. Facebook has been tagged as the source of various misinformation pushes that have led to violence and unrest in developing regions, with Twitter becoming the key source of news and information in these nations, leading to more manipulated media.
The capacity to shape what users see also stems from political leaders, as well as the pressures they can exert on platforms on this front – data already shows that Twitter’s complying with far more government requests for action under Musk, particularly from Turkey and India. Data, as per RestofWorld, all in all, government requests to Twitter have more than doubled since Musk took over, and its compliance rate has increased to 80% from 50%.
Again, it’s not happening in the US. So far, Musk has made a ruckus on showcasing more capacity to facilitate free speech, but seemingly, that approach, conceptually, isn’t extending to other regions. So, despite the divide in opinions, it’s still definitely worth taking into consideration and measuring Twitter’s efforts to address such concerns as they relate to about 70% of its user base. Under Musk, not all regions will receive the same type of consideration. While Musk has repeatedly noted that Twitter will adhere to each regional law, its lax approval process for its Blue subscription offering could end up causing significant damage.
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